Recovering the boot region (MBR) of Windows XP. Loading the operating system

Tell me how to make it correctly bootloader recovery Windows XP, I had two operating systems and the Acronis OS Selector boot manager installed. I uninstalled one system and Acronis, now I have problems, first in the initial boot phase the message Bootmgr is missing appeared, I applied the Fixmbr and FixBOOT commands in the recovery console, now another NTLDR is missing error appears. I spent two days studying this console, but Win XP still won’t load, what did I do wrong? DRIVE.

Restoring the Windows XP bootloader

You, dear DRIVE, were two steps away from victory, you didn’t have enough patience, but it doesn’t matter, next time everything will work out. It is very important to know that the Bootmgr is missing error indicates damage to the master boot record or partition table of the hard drive, which is located in the first sector of the hard drive, by the way, you started successfully Windows XP Boot Loader Recovery and solved half of the problems, namely, they overwrote the master boot record with the Fixmbr command and wrote a new boot sector with the FixBOOT command, so another error began to appear and the only thing left to do was to copy three to the root directory of the partition with the operating system (mainly drive C) file boot.ini, NTDETECT.COM, ntldr. Let's start from the very beginning and achieve everything.

1. We consider possible causes of damage to the Windows XP boot loader, check the BIOS settings in the Boot Device Priority item.
2. Using the Fixmbr and FixBOOT commands in the recovery console.
3. Copying the boot.ini, NTDETECT.COM, ntldr files from the Windows XP installation disk into the recovery console and loading successfully.
4. If after reading the article you still cannot restore the boot of Windows XP, then read our other article " "

After turning on the computer, friends, it self-tests, then control is transferred to the master boot record of the hard drive, it contains a partition table of the hard drive and a small bootloader program that reads in this table information from which hard drive (if there are several of them) and which partition of the hard drive to produce loading the OS. Subsequently, the operating system kernel is loaded into RAM and Windows XP actually starts. You also need to know that loading the operating system also involves a group of files located in the root directory of drive C, namely boot.ini, NTDETECT.COM, ntldr. The presence of all of the above eliminates the presence of the Bootmgr is missing error when loading XP and ensures successful startup of the system.

By the way, it is not always necessary to carry out such problems Win bootloader recovery dows XP, let's look at some of the reasons for this error that I personally encountered. The first is the simplest, if there are several hard drives in the system, the Bios settings have been violated, namely, for example, in AMI Bios, in the BOOT tab, Boot Device Priority, then Hard Disk Drives, the hard drive from which you want to boot is set to the wrong one, which is needed. Troubleshooting this problem and the reasons for its occurrence are well described in our article.

The use of third-party programs in the master boot record, so-called boot managers, for example Acronis OS Selector, is used mainly when there are several operating systems on the computer; the manager displays a convenient OS selection menu at the beginning of boot. You need to use such programs very carefully; if you incorrectly remove the Acronis OS Seletor program from your computer, there is a very high chance of restoring the Windows XP boot loader. The same applies to the GRUB bootloader, which allows you to use Linux and Windows XP on one computer; when you remove GRUB, you will leave your computer alone with an incomprehensible boot record and without hesitation it will show you Bootmgr is missing. In this case, we will correct the situation in the Windows XP recovery console, first we will enter the FIXMBR command and rewrite the master boot record, and with the second FIXBOOT command we will write a new boot sector.
But that’s not all, after correcting the boot record, as well as recording a new boot sector in the console, the situation with the error output may remain unchanged and there may be other errors, for example: NTLDR is missing. In this case, you need to once again make sure that there are boot sector files directly involved in loading Windows XP: , NTDETECT.COM , ntldr , in the root directory of the disk (C:), in principle, three of these files are enough to boot Windows XP.
The easiest way is to use a Live CD, boot from it, then go to the root directory of drive C and make sure that these files are present; if they are not there, then you need to copy them from any working XP and upload them to yourself, checking them first and if necessary by editing the boot.ini file, a simple text file that contains the path to the Windows XP system files, you must do this, otherwise you will get another error, you can read.
But I like another way: restoring the Windows XP bootloader using the recovery console. If you have an XP distribution, let's use it and copy our three files boot.ini, NTDETECT.COM, NTLDR to the root directory of drive C. I assure you it’s very simple, and you don’t need to edit the boot.ini file, the console will do everything itself.
We boot from the Windows XP installation disk, select restore R. If we have one operating system, set the number 1.

If there was a password, enter it; if not, press Enter.

Enter the FIXMBR command, this command is to restore a damaged hard disk partition table, it will overwrite the master boot record.

We confirm the recording of the new MBR, set Y

Enter the FIXBOOT command and agree to write a new boot sector.

Copy the files ntldr, NTDETECT.COM, boot.ini from the distribution to the root of the system drive C.
Enter the MAP command and look at the letter of our drive, in my case (D:)

Enter the drive letter D: and press Enter.

We go to the i386 folder, which is located on the Windows XP installation disk, from it we copy our NTLDR file to the root of the C drive.
Enter the command cd i386 and Enter

We copy the NTLDR file to the root of our system disk with the operating system with the command

What to do if the windows boot loader crashed..? How to restore... how to fix this problem..? And so, the main way! Recovering the Windows XP boot loader using the recovery console. First you need the oc windows xp distribution kit. It contains the files necessary to restore the bootloader. More specifically, we are interested in the files NTLDR, boot.ini and NTDETECT.COM. You need to place these three files on drive C in the root directory of the partition. All settings are simple and safe. You don't really need to do anything. The console will perform all the functions for you!

1. We start the system, booting from the XP installer, selecting recovery R. If there is only one operating system on the computer, set the value to 1. If there is a password, enter that too!

2. Run the command to restore the damaged hard disk partition table by entering the FIXMBR command in the console. This command will overwrite the master boot record!

3. Now the console will report that our machine does not have a standard master boot record. We need to set the value to Y, agreeing to write a new MBR.

4. To write a new boot sector of the hard disk partition, you need to enter the FIXBOOT command.

5. Now we create copies of the NTLDR, boot.ini and NTDETECT.COM files in the root of the system partition of drive C, copying them there from the operating system boot loader distribution. All copying steps are described below! These are points six to twelve!

6. By entering the MAP command, we determine the letter of our drive. In the console it will be defined next to the main system partition C, as \Device\CDRom0

7. If your drive letter is defined as D, then write it into the console and press Enter.

8. Using the console command cd i386 and Enter, go to the i386 folder of the Windows installation disk.

9. Using the copy NTLDR C:\ command, we copy the NTLDR file to the root of our system disk.

10. Using exactly the same console manipulations, we copy the NTDETECT.COM file using the copy NTDETECT.COM C:\ command

11. At the eleventh step, we proceed to transfer/copy the BOOT.INI file to the system partition of drive C. By entering the Bootcfg /add command, we create a new BOOT.INI file, simultaneously determining the installed operating systems on the computer, adding the found copy of Windows No. 1 to the boot menu .

We write down the name of the system - type XP Professional RU. Use the /fastdetect key to disable recognition of devices connected to serial and parallel ports, thereby increasing download speed.

We write the Exit command to exit the i386 folder. All! After this, our operating system loads successfully. On drive C, you can check the presence of the copied files NTLDR, boot.ini and NTDETECT.COM next to the windows folder, and their contents.

As you can see, there is nothing complicated about restoring the Windows XP bootloader. Below is a video on how to repair the master boot record and write a new boot sector from the Windows XP recovery console.

In some completely incomprehensible cases, the logical area of ​​the hard drive breaks down. The breakdown is most often logical in nature and, as it turns out, is easily fixable. In order to repair and return everything to its place, you can use some homemade LiveCD with Windows, but this is not a good way.

The best thing is to use the absolutely legal method that Microsoft offers us.

How to recognize a broken Windows XP boot area

You don’t have to do much with this, since it’s all done on an intuitive level, that is, you just turn on your computer, and it doesn’t go further than loading the BIOS. At best, it will show an error on the screen that the MBR area is damaged.

Recently, viruses have appeared that deliberately change this area and instruct this area to load itself instead of loading the operating system. The next time they load, they demand money from the poor user. As it turns out, this MBRL ock virus can be treated using the method described below.

This virus, by the way, can ruin all website promotion, since the optimizer will not be able to physically produce it, since the computer will be blocked.

Restoring the boot area of ​​Windows XP

To do this, we will need the installation disk that you used when installing the operating system. If you don’t have it, and you didn’t install the operating system, then you should bother looking for it, since every user of this operating system should have an installation disk with Windows XP on their household. Without it, you won't be able to get maximum performance from Windows at all.

It is best to use the original disk, since the use of all sorts of animals and game editions can bring other animals to your OS.

If you are a netbook user and you don’t have a place where you can put this disk, then you can mess up the boot one. You can also use it to restore.

1. Booting from the Windows XP installation disk
   Everything is exactly the same as when installing Windows.
2. In the very first window you need to click R. To make it clearer, this is that useless window when installing Windows XP, where you just need to click Enter.
3. We are waiting for Windows recovery mode to load. During boot, the startup wizard will ask you to specify your operating system (you will need to select the OS using a number) and, if you have an administrator password, enter it. After this, the Windows XP Recovery Console will appear.
4. In this console you will need to execute 2 commands in turn:

   fixboot
   fixmbr

   During the execution of each command, you will need to confirm these actions by pressing a key Y And Enter.

5. Next, restart the computer by typing accordingly exit, and have time to rejoice at the completely restored boot area.

Since Windows XP is more like a tank than a flexible operating system, after restoring the boot area you will get Windows XP booting without any choice, that is, if you had Windows 7 or some Linux installed, it will boot under it You won't succeed. There will simply be no launch paths.

P.S. I am more and more surprised at how convenient it is for writing articles. Previously, I used bare HTML because I didn’t see a sane alternative. Now I have discovered this marking method.

Hello, unfortunately, sometimes it happens that Windows doesn’t want to boot and it throws an error at just the wrong moment. Here I will provide a list of programs that can help you recover a lost bootloader.

1.Partition Table Doctor — a unique program for restoring damaged disk partitions. Damage can occur as a result of an unexpected loss of power, or a virus attack, as a result of which the disk stops showing any information (behaves as if it had just come from the factory).

The program automatically checks and restores master boot record (MBR), file allocation table and partition boot sector. The following file systems are supported: FAT16, FAT32, NTFS/NTFS5, EXT2, EXT3, SWAP.

The program can create an emergency floppy disk (Ctrl+D inside the program). Included is a bootable image in IMA format for burning an emergency CD. In Nero 6, this is done as follows: launch Nero, select CD-ROM (Load) in the new project menu, switch to Image File and through “View” find “PTD Boot.ima”. Now you can click “New” and stuff whatever you want into this compilation. The recorded disc will be bootable, i.e. If you boot your computer from a CD drive, the DOS version of Partition Table Doctor 3.5 will appear.

2. DiskPatch is a professional DOS-based data recovery utility that recovers data by restoring damaged disk structures, such as partition tables, "in place."

DiskPatch is designed to solve most problems that prevent you from accessing your data; corrupted MBRs (Master Boot Records), corrupted partition tables, unexpectedly deleted partitions, corrupted boot sectors, and bad sectors.

Damage to the MBR, partition tables and parts of bootable sectors in most cases lead to massive data loss; situations where you cannot access a partition or an entire hard drive. You can fix these problems yourself using DiskPatch!

DiskPatch automatically repairs damaged, corrupted or lost partition tables and bootable sectors. Fast. Just. Safely.

To make recovery from subsequent disasters easier, DiskPatch allows you to back up important disk structures such as the MBR, partition tables and boot sectors.

3. Using a boot disk that includes bootloader recovery program — MBR fix

4.MBR Editor— A program for editing the Master Boot Record (MBR) of a disk.
Possibilities:
– viewing and editing the disk partition table;
– viewing and editing Boot Sectors
sections;
– saving/loading the entire BMR to/from disk(s);
– saving/loading the Boot Loader to/from disk(s);
– bootloader recovery from templates (Windows XP Professional SP2,
Windows 98 SE, MS-DOS 6.22);

But sometimes programs don’t help and you have to, which is the most reliable remedy.

OS boot problems are a widespread phenomenon among Windows users. This happens due to damage to the means responsible for starting the system - the MBR master boot record or a special sector that contains files necessary for a normal start.

As mentioned above, there are two reasons for boot problems. Next, we’ll talk about them in more detail and try to solve these problems. We will do this using the recovery console, which is contained on the Windows XP installation disk. For further work we need to boot from this media.

If you only have a distribution image, you will first need to burn it to a flash drive.

MBR recovery

The MBR is usually written in the very first cell (sector) on the hard drive and contains a small piece of program code that is executed first when booting and determines the coordinates of the boot sector. If the record is damaged, Windows will not be able to start.

1. After booting from the flash drive, we will see a screen with options available for selection. Click R.

   

2. Next, the console will prompt you to log in to one of the copies of the OS. If you did not install the second system, it will be the only one on the list. Enter the number here 1 from the keyboard and press ENTER, then the administrator password, if you have one, if it is not set, then just click "Enter".

   

   If you have forgotten your administrator password, please read the following articles on our website:

3. The command that “repairs” the master boot record is written like this:

   

   

4. The new MBR has been successfully written, you can now exit the console using the command

   and try to start Windows.

   

   If the launch attempt was unsuccessful, then we move on.

Boot sector

The boot sector in Windows XP contains the boot loader NTLDR, which “fires” after the MBR and transfers control directly to the operating system files. If this sector contains errors, then further start of the system is impossible.

Recovering the boot.ini file

In file boot.ini the order of loading the operating system and the address of the folder with its documents are specified. If this file is damaged or the code syntax is broken, then Windows will not know that it needs to start.

Transferring boot files

Except boot.ini files are responsible for loading the operating system NTLDR And NTDETECT.COM. Their absence makes booting Windows impossible. True, these documents are on the installation disk, from where they can simply be copied to the root of the system disk.

1. Launch the console, select the OS, enter the admin password.
2. Next you need to enter the command

   This is necessary to view a list of media connected to the computer.

   

3. Then we need to select the drive letter from which we are currently booting. If this is a flash drive, then its identifier will be (in our case) "\Device\Harddisk1\Partition1". You can distinguish a drive from a regular hard drive by its capacity. If we use a CD, then select "\Device\CdRom0". Please note that the numbers and names may differ slightly, the main thing is to understand the principle of choice.

   So, we have decided on the choice of disk, enter its letter with a colon and click "Enter".

   

4. Now we need to go to the folder "i386" Why are we writing?

   

5. After the transition you need to copy the file NTLDR from this folder to the root of the system disk. Enter the following command:

   and then agree to a replacement if offered ( "Y").

   

6. After successful copying, a corresponding message will appear.

   

7. Next we do the same with the file NTDETECT.COM.

   

8. The final step is to add our Windows to a new file boot.ini. To do this we run the command

   

   Enter the number 1 , enter the identifier and boot parameters, exit the console, boot the system.

   

All actions we take to restore the download should lead to the required result. If you still fail to start Windows XP, then most likely you will have to reinstall. You can “rearrange” Windows while preserving user files and OS settings.

Conclusion

A download “breakdown” does not happen on its own; there is always a reason for it. These can be either viruses or your actions. Never install programs obtained from sites other than official ones, do not delete or edit files that were not created by you, they may turn out to be system files. Following these simple rules will help you avoid having to resort to a complex recovery procedure once again.